Saddest farewell
Cradling her stillborn son, a mother and her heartbroken family pose for a final photo
A MOTHER spent nearly a week with her dead son and sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to him in hospital after he was stillborn.
Angela Cook, 31, and her partner Luke Baker, 21, stayed by their son Keelan’s side when staff provided them with a ‘cold cot’ which preserved his body.
Miss Cook was 32 weeks pregnant and had initially thought she had cramp in her leg when she woke in the early hours of March 3 at home in Burry Port, Carmarthenshire.
After she reached for a glass of water, however, it became clear that she was bleeding and the couple called an ambulance. But doctors at nearby Glangwili Hospital were unable to locate a heartbeat for Keelan, and the couple’s son was stillborn – at 32 weeks and one day – at 5.48am, weighing 3lb 2oz.
It was caused by the placenta prematurely separating from the wall of her uterus.
Despite it being a stillbirth, doctors did not immediately move Keelan away and instead Miss Cook was able to say goodbye to her ‘peaceful and handsome’ baby.
Placing a cold mat linked to a cooling unit underneath Keelan’s body meant he kept his colour for longer.
The parents posed for photos with their son and sang him lullabies while staying in a private room for five days.
Keelan’s siblings Leon, 15, Callum, 11, Brooke, eight, and Harley, six, also took turns to cradle his body. Miss Cook said: ‘I was in disbelief. Keelan looked as if he was sleeping, so perfect.
‘My world had just crashed, all in a few hours. My placenta had abrupted which caused him to pass away.
‘It was the most heartbreaking news I have ever had. I don’t remember that much – all I remember is they scanned me straight away.
‘I remember looking on the screen and couldn’t see anything. That’s when the doctor said, “I’m so sorry, there isn’t a heartbeat”.
‘I shouted, “Check again, please check again”. Another doctor came in and confirmed that my baby boy’s heart was no longer beating and he had passed away.
‘I was in shock. Everything happened so fast. I was having blood transfusions and drugs to try to stop me bleeding.’
She added: ‘We have had support from the midwives in hospital and the funeral directors were so lovely.’
Miss Cook and Mr Baker are seeking to raise £1,600 to pay for another cold cot unit at the hospital so that bereaved parents are able to spend time with their children.
Cold cots have become more common to help families to cope with the bereavement of a child and are used in maternity wards as well as children’s hospices.
‘Looked as if he was sleeping’